POLL: Will you have the COVID-19 vaccine?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Hope all goes well for you, IceMaiden - and for anyone else who is due to have the jab soon.

[GloomyGraham]

I am not at all an anti-vaxxer type (had the flu shot back in about March) and was very willing to get a covid jab as soon as it was made available to my age-group.

But then with the changing of which drug to use for certain age-groups and then some deaths (rare, I know) due to clotting and shifting of the goal-posts again and again, I decided I wouldn't be rushing in to anything. I've had some health issues myself this year so I was worried they might make me more at-risk of adverse effects.

Now that the Pfizer vaccine has been recommended for us young 'uns (lol) I have greater confidence and will be booking in soon.

[Courtenay]

My sister (in Australia) has recently had her first jab (Pfizer) and is booked in for her second, so that's all my family done now.

[Fiona1986]

I was worried too, Graham. I went for my appointment with a mind to refuse the vaccination if it was AZ. But it was pfizer so it was OK!

[Jack400]

I can honestly say that I didn't feel a thing on either of my two covid doses. There's really nothing to worry about.Mine (both times) was the AZ vaccine

[IceMaiden]

Well I've had my first dose. I didn't want it, wasn't intending on having it and I definitely did feel it but it's done now. The pain isn't bad but it's certainly not painless, it hurts like any other injection (never had one that doesn't no matter what they say), I just shut my eyes and looked away. So far the only side effects I've had is a dull throbbing ache below where the needle went in and I got a very sudden brief headache. I was feeling fine, turned around and my head started pounding but ten minutes later it stopped as quick as it started.

[IceMaiden]

Has anyone else had random pains after their vaccine? I've been getting muscle type pain randomly in my opposite arm, top of my ribs, side, back ,neck and chest. I've also been getting sudden bouts of feeling chilled despite it being warm and sunny here. As it's four days later I'm wondering if they can possibly still be side effects.

[Katharine]

I know of several people who had the Oxford vaccine and felt chilly for a day or so after their jab. One of whom felt ok after that, but then felt unwell again on about the 5th and 6th day.

I think I have heard of people getting pain in the opposite arm to the one that was jabbed too.

It might be worth ringing your GP to see what they have to say, as it may need to be flagged up as a side effect.

[Fiona1986]

I got a bit of paper when I got my jab detailing who to report any potential side affects to - it was for the yellow card scheme.

https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/

[Boatbuilder]

Now that virtually all restrictions have been lifted in England and with daily cases now around the 50,000 mark in the UK - and predicted to rise by some medical professionals to as many as 200,000 a day, are there any members here in the UK who originally indicated that they were either undecided or wouldn't be having the jab, who have since changed their mind? At the moment there are five people (not necessarily in the UK) whose 'votes' still fall into one or other of those two categories.

It would be interesting to know if they have changed their minds and not altered their 'vote' or are standing by their original decisions.

[Machupicchu14]

I was feeling a bit desperate yesterday realizing I will probably be getting my vaccine in more than a month. I was hoping to get the single dose Janssen vaccine from the pharmacies but because the day the government announced the availability of these vaccines for young people, I called the pharmacies with a delay of six hours and that made all the difference. All the pharmacies are fully booked and with quite long waiting lists, and though the HSE vaccine portal for under 25s is opening up for Pfizer and Moderna, I would not have time to get the second dose before traveling back to Sweden. So just really hoping that a slot will become available before I have to return to uni, and I can get the Janssen one. The Delta variant seems to be hitting hard once again. Getting the vaccine will be a huge relief for me.

[Boatbuilder]

I hope you manage to get your vaccination sooner rather than later, Maria Esther. I am sure it must be concerning you with the Delta variant now seemingly running riot - at least here in the UK - with the 15 to 29 age group accounting for almost 45% of the 55,550 cases in England on the latest single full day of cases reported today (20th), which is the 15th July. They are always five days behind in reporting the 'final' figures for each day. These figures are the 'specimen date' figures as opposed to the 'reporting date' ones which are announced each day on the news.

HERE is a link to a chart I keep which shows the daily cases in England by age-group, if anyone is interested. It also contains archived daily charts for most days going back two months, which highlight how quickly things can change.

In the meantime, stay safe.

[Katharine]

Does anyone know the figures for serious illness among the younger age group?

I find the daily cases meaningless as they stand. Have those figures been recorded simply because of increased testing, or are the under 30's getting seriously ill and requiring medical assistance/hospitalisation?

[Boatbuilder]

There aren't any figures published on the gov.uk Coronavirus website indicating anything like that, Katharine, just as there aren't any figures that I have been able to find on there which give the deaths by age or age-groups. It is possible that they do exist but more than likely they would be on the ONS (Office for National Statistics) website. I think it is safe to assume that as those figures show, the higher the age groups the fewer the cases as many more people in those groups are fully vaccinated, although fully vaccinated people can still get the virus as we know. I also keep a record of the vaccinations by age-group here in East Suffolk and that typically shows how the roll-out is progressing each day - the number of people receiving the first or second dose by age group. If you want to have a look it is HERE. There are still about 25,000 people in the East Suffolk adult population who haven't had their first vaccination yet - about 12%.

[Katharine]

Thanks, that was interesting - does Ipswich come under East Suffolk do you know?